Illinois advanced to the Elite Eight and a 6:05 p.m. Saturday matchup with Arizona. One more victory puts Illinois in the Final Four in St. Louis. Arizona denied the Illini a trip to the Final Four in 2001.

"It's wonderful," Illinois' Dee Brown said. "Our main goal was to get to the Final Four and win a national championship. Just getting to the Elite Eight is a great accomplishment. We just have to keep playing hard."

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (26-6) gave Illinois a mighty test of stamina.

The Panthers ran circles around Alabama in the tournament's first round and did the same against Boston College in the second round.

But if the Illini were frazzled, they didn't show it. Brown and Williams each scored 21 points. Roger Powell and Luther Head each added 12, and James Augustine recorded his third straight tournament double-double by scoring 11 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Brown provided the most excitement. With a little more than eight minutes left in the game, he launched an awkward, fadeaway three-pointer that swished through the net and set off the fans' happy hysteria.

Illinois went up by 17 on a layup by Powell with 6 minutes 33 seconds to go but couldn't shake Wisconsin-Milwaukee's persistence and Panthers star Joah Tucker. He scored 32 points, the most by an Illinois opponent this season.

"They had to play well to beat us," Pearl said. "They made shots. They got stops when they had to have them. They did to us what we've been doing to teams the past few weeks."

Pearl endured jeers from Illinois fans who still hold a grudge for his role in sanctions the NCAA levied against Illinois in the early 1990s. Pearl accused Illinois of violations in the recruitment of Deon Thomas.

Thursday night, he and his players earned a measure of respect.

"Nobody knew who they were before this tournament," Williams said. "They came out and made a name for themselves."

Williams and Brown both raised their game a notch or two, combining to make 15 of 24 shots. Brown had struggled a bit last weekend. He didn't have a field goal in Illinois' second-round victory over Nevada, in large part because of stomach cramps.

"You sawhim come back today when he's feeling good," Williams said.

Williams and Head both fought foul trouble, but Illinois' bigger concern was the hamstring injury bothering Head. He suffered the injury Monday.

Illinois needs him more than ever. The Illini didn't get a single point from their bench players, and Richard McBride, the team's first guard off the bench, played tentatively.

Brown wasn't bothered by it.

"It ain't really about the scoring," Brown said. "Today their job was to defend and rebound. As long as they keep understanding their role, we'll be fine."

Illinois has made four appearances in the NCAA Final Four, finishing third in 1949, 1951 and 1952. The Illini were beaten by Michigan in the national semifinals of the 1989 Final Four.

Last season, Duke ended Illinois' postseason dreams by defeating the Illini in a regional semifinal in Atlanta.

"We knew how it felt last year to lose in this position," Brown said. "We just wanted to take it one step further. That's what we did."